Ahmed Shahin,Tong Wang, Ryan Zamperoni, Casey Dudding, Keenan Black-Araujo, Emily Yip, Michael Pope, Teri Siu, Jixi Zhang, Jun Wang, Poojitha Durgamhanti
On January 18th, the NSERC CREATE graduate training program, 2D-MATURE kicked off. The program focuses on providing a value-added experience for trainees working in the area of scalable 2D materials. Under the leadership of Chemical Engineering professor Michael Pope, the program is an international collaboration with two prestigious German Universities.
Most of the graduate students arrived at their respective campuses just prior to January 18th, but some are starting in May and joined remotely. PhD and MASc candidates were welcomed to the University of Waterloo with two days of on-boarding activities. These included several fun team-building experiences including an escape room adventure! The students were excited to meet their University of Waterloo and German peers as well as the collaborating German Co-Principal Investigators (PIs) who will supervise their international exchanges.
After an introduction to the program and listening to the research plans of all the graduate students, the team received lectures on research integrity and research data management. The students were also introduced to important concepts in equity, diversity and inclusion, learning about unconscious bias and concluding with a brainstorming session focused on creating a 2D-MATURE code-of-conduct.
Next, the students will elect various committee representatives who will shape the program with the PIs. In March, the program will kick off its monthly colloquium with world-renowned guest speakers. The colloquium will be hosted alternately by the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology (WIN) and Centre for Nanointegration at Duisburg-Essen (CENIDE)
There is a great deal of excitement about the Summer School in Germany that will take place from June 19-July 7, 2023! During the first few days, the students will attend specialized lectures on nanoscale analysis, heterostructure physics, and basic principles of nanofabrication. The students will also work on soft skills such as communication, and presentation skills, and they will receive coaching on equity, diversity, and inclusion in research and industrial application.
The students will host the first 2D-MATURE conference at the end of the first week which will be attended by prominent researchers in the field and industry leaders who will give talks and provide feedback to the students during poster presentations and networking sessions.
The last two weeks of this three-week trip will focus on hands-on training in various synthesis and characterization methods. The organizers plan to build in some time for the students to explore nearby cities in Germany and the rest of Europe such as Cologne, Amsterdam and even Paris! Organizers hope that this will be an exhilarating experience for these new researchers!
Please continue to monitor our NSERC CREATE webpage for more updates as well as profiles of the new graduate students.